


It Took Awhile, But I'm Finally Here

by CelticGHardy



Category: The Following
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 06:40:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/732570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticGHardy/pseuds/CelticGHardy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan couldn't be there when he first woke up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Took Awhile, But I'm Finally Here

**Author's Note:**

> ...Aw geez, another one. *smack* I mean, oh hey, another one.

Ryan couldn't be there when he first woke up. Mike squinted and tried to move his head, but the pain stopped him before he could even do anything. He went back to sleep in less than a minute. The next few times he woke up were longer, but the man still wasn't there. Instead, a nurse checked him over and tried to talk to him. No one else had time to talk to him as he went back to sleep.

When he was able to stay awake for longer than fifteen minutes, the sketch artist sat down with him for descriptions on the people he encountered. He had to force himself from reliving it when he tried to stop on the people involved within his memories. It took a full day, given he still fell asleep at random times, for the sketch artist to get everyone he could remember. Roderick was the first he talked about, the blonde woman and the man that he fought next.

He began waking up to hear voices talking about a shooting. “You shouldn't have killed her,” Parker admonished, “They've been looking for a way to get rid of you.”

Ryan laughed, low and weary, “Joe wants me. I'm a part of his 'book'. He wouldn't allow them to simply put me aside. Like that Red John guy and Patrick Jane.”

Mike cracked his eyes, waiting for the light to recede before he could see them. Parker was leaning again the door frame, coffee cup hanging in her hand. Ryan was sitting in the standard hard plastic chair, holding a water bottle instead of coffee. “After that incident, they don't care. The FBI is sick of going by their whims. 'We are not going to play around with these types anymore,'” she quoted. 

He wasn't really worried about Ryan being knocked off the case. He was one of the people that knew Carroll and had dealt with the man. Mike was the one that did his thesis on him, but he only knew the facts, not the rage or the passion behind the murders. If they wanted to accurately try and predict the man's moves, they needed Ryan. 

But he was curious about who Ryan shot, and why it was causing a lot of chaos. “What's been going on?” he whispered. Both looked over quickly at him. “What's happened?”

“I shot the woman,” Ryan said, “From your attack.”

He wanted to know what led up to the shooting. “Why?”

“We shouldn't tell you,” Parker cautioned, “The doctors were already worried about the sketch artists and the reaction you had then. No more stress factors.” Something pinged and she looked down to her cell phone. She read the screen quickly. “Damn it.” She walked off, dialing someone.

Mike looked over at Ryan. “Hey, I shouldn't tell you either,” he defended, standing up to check for anyone coming before closing the door, “Stress factors and such shit.” He sat back down. “One of Joe's followers was killing women with the name Claire Matthews. We think he was trying to draw her out.”

“The shooting?”

“She was helping out the killer. I shot her; she didn't think I would.”

Mike laughed, then moaned, “Okay, I can't do that for a while.”

“Heh, yeah. You won't be able to do much for a while.”

He calmed down before asking, “She's still safe, right?”

“Yeah, she's safe. She didn't have media access, so she didn't know anything. Donovan kept checking.”

“Good,” he nodded, looking like he was about to sleep.

Parker carefully opened the door when Mike looked like he had gone to sleep. “We need to get back,” she whispered, “Something's going on with Claire Matthews.”

Ryan sighed and stood up from the chair. He squeezed Mike's hand once, feeling a slight return before letting go to follow Parker out.

**Author's Note:**

> [Original Tumblr post](http://veryrealimagination.tumblr.com/post/46027206125/another-ficlet)


End file.
